I didn't totally forget in my last post that my hubby's birthday was in February. It just warranted it's very own post. We kicked off Jeremie's birthday weekend with his traditional cookie cake FROM THE PLACE IN THE MALL. Listen. I've tried cheaper other options. I've tried laboring with love and making my own cookie cake for him. But my hubby has the gift of honesty and has told me that neither will work. So here we are. They even spelled his name right this year. And I never put candles on his cake because quite honestly, I can never remember how old Jeremie is. I have to do some math every year.
The past two years we've gone to Broken Bow, Oklahoma and stayed in the darling cabins there. This year, we decided to save a few $$ and try something different. And I'm so glad we did! This year's trip was a blast! I lucked up and randomly found an amazing deal (like almost cheaper than a nice dinner date) on Beaumont Ranch, which is about an hour outside of Dallas. I thought it was super coincidental since J grew up in a little town called.....Beaumont!
On our way to the ranch, we stopped in a town we've never been to called Waxahachie. (Just take a stab at it, we don't know how to pronounce it either.) It's known as the "Gingerbread City" because of the prevalence of these style homes......
Ummm...yes please!!!! I'm ready to move it!!!! It had a DARLING downtown; we are total suckers for charming town squares. They had so many cute antique stores and I completely wanted to join the locals who were scrapbooking in the craft store.
We even found Greyson one of these little toddler "leashes" at a children's consignment shop.
Judge away people, judge away. But you chase him around like a wild cat for 6 hours and then tell me what you think. I even had a lady stop me and tell me "good job" because she also raised a "spirited son". He actually had more freedom because otherwise, he'd be in the stroller or having to be carried. I might even put Manny's retractable leash on it to give him a few extra feet.....hehe, just kidding.
We were hungry after our shopping and a local recommended the Catfish Plantation restaurant. And ya'll, it was slap yo mama, finger lickin' good. Like, I needed to unbutton my pants afterwards. Well, that is after I finished my blackberry cobbler to-go in the car. (I've got a whole 'nother compartment for dessert.)
The restaurant was in a beautiful house that is believed to be haunted. The only thing I'm haunted with is when we're gonna have time to go back for some more cobbler.
Greyson LOVED the little "house" they had in front of the restaurant. Now Daddy is going to build him one....spoiled much?
Can we pause and enjoy how darling my little guy is?
We finally headed out of Waxahachie, through Maypearl (yes, Maypearl, TX) and onto Beaumont Ranch. I realize I'm really killing all the "cute, darlin, precious" adjectives in this post, but ya'll.....it was CUTE. PRECIOUS. DARLIN. It is a huge working cattle ranch with a western village in the middle of the property. Like you could shoot a movie there. We LOVED it!
This was the cabin we stayed in, The Paisley. And yes, it was precious. Claw foot tub and all. The only complaint I had is the toilet was a little "old school" with a long chain handle you pulled to flush it. And it made the loudest....well, belching sound when you pulled it. Just ponder this conundrum when we had a sleeping baby right next to the bathroom.
Doesn't this sunset just make you take a deep sigh???
After putting G down, I ran "to town" to get us some dinner. Grandview is a little one horse town and the only food option was the R&K Cafe. And it was clearly the place to be on a Saturday night! I took our food back to the ranch and we enjoyed it on the patio overlooking the longhorns. ; )
I also stopped at the Dollar General in Grandview to pick up some milk for G the next morning. The associate checking me out was telling me about a big problem she was having with her barn cats eating field canaries (not kidding) and bringing the dead fowls into the house. She was super sweet, but I'm not gonna lie, that sounded a little crazy to me. I told Jeremie I didn't realize canaries were native to Texas. And sure enough the next morning, guess what I see? A lovely yellow canary sitting on the barb wire fence. And just guess who was our breakfast waitress the next morning at the ranch? Yep, the canary lady from Dollar General. Oh I love a small town.
Part of Jeremie's birthday gift was a skeet shooting session on the ranch, so he went on Sunday morning. And ya'll, he was just beaming afterwards. It filled his love tank like a two hour Marshall's shopping spree would fill mine.
Meanwhile, me and G played on the ranch, chasing his new friend, a black cat. And the cat loved him right back. Or maybe it was the leftover chicken strips we left for her on the porch the night before. You know how that goes....never feed a stray animal. I was truly afraid we were about to bring a new pet home.
Just look at my little cowboy.........
On the way out of town, we stopped at the R&K Cafe one more time and I got a chicken fried steak with 3 sides and a desert for $6.49; praise the Lord.
The weekend definitely wore G out because he slept all the way to our front door. And well-trained parents know to never waste a good nap. So Jeremie got out of the car as I carefully crawled over into the driver's seat (so we'd only have to quietly close ONE door) and I rode around the block until G woke up. Lord have mercy, who have we become.
Anyway, we had a absolute blast; it was a much needed getaway! And luckily we didn't come back with any cats. Or canaries.
Happy Trails, folks!
